Import/convert to dng in lightroom vs. use DNG converter and Import-Add

Forum|Forum|1 year ago
December 31, 2024
2 replies
455 views

I find that with my older PC that it takes a long time to add a set of photos to a folder and catalog them, and convert to DNG during import. I suspect that using the Adobe DNG converter program against the files on the card and just creating the DNG files in a new folder will be considerably faster, then just do an Import Add. But.. are there significant differences between these two conversion methods? I don't do any presets during importing. Most concerned about quality loss of the images. Thanks.

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Ian Lyons

Community Expert

So long as LrC DNG and the DNG Converter preferences match, then the methods of converting to DNG that you described will produce identical files.

Ian Lyons

Community Expert

I forgot to mention that enabling 'Embed Fast Load Data' preference as you'll then get best performance in the Develop module. It also means the Camera Raw cache size, etc is irrelevent as this preference embeds the cache files within the DNG itself.

GoldingD

Legend

First up, why convert to DNG? Many have logical reasons.

Also, what camera? One group of users that create DNG from their RAW files for work in LrC are FujiX users, many hate the Adobe RAF conversion, and use a third party RAF to DNG converter. Similar exists for other camera makes.

And see:

https://community.adobe.com/t5/photoshop-ecosystem-discussions/pros-and-cons-of-dng-file-format-and-how-to-convert-camera-raw-to-dng/td-p/13626108

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